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Big Year Wrap-Up 2023

Big Year Wrap-Up 2023

Tundra Swans

Three Tundra Swans fly by against a gray background

Last year I embarked on an incredible journey – my first Big Year competition, sponsored by the San Joaquin Audubon Society. The Big Year is a competition to see as many bird species as possible in one year, and in this case we would be competing within county borders. It proved to be a great way to meet the local birders and to get to know the birding spots here, which was a perfect set-up for newcomers such as myself.

Franklin's Gull

Franklin’s Gull flying while a Ring-billed Gull sleeps. The Franklin’s Gull took multiple attempts to find.

During the year, I experienced many beautiful moments of awe, of being lured into the spell of a rare bird popping by for a day or two. With every rare bird report, I could count on seeing a familiar group of birders later that day as we all rushed out to find the bird. I enjoyed the conversations and friendships that followed.

Because of the Big Year, I went out of my comfort zone by exploring new areas and landed several “lifers” (a bird I’ve never seen before) as a result. I also paid more attention to the birds around me, which undoubtedly aided in my discovery of a Costa’s Hummingbird making my backyard its home. It’s these experiences that I will treasure long after the Big Year is done.

In the end, my husband and I received first place for team effort! We were tied for third in the intermediate category, and placed sixth overall. Not bad for newcomers that were just getting acquainted with an area.

Cooper's Hawk

Cooper’s Hawk spreading its wing to defend against a squirrel (not pictured), 2023

A bucket list item is checked. A new year begins. Now what? After a year of grinding, suddenly I’m left with a feeling of uncertainty of how to bird “normally.” I’ve been focusing on my backyard and observing the bird drama. White-crowned Sparrows establishing a pecking order within their foraging unit, Anna’s Hummingbirds aggressively defending their feeder, and battles between jays and mockingbirds for the prime spot in a tree. There’s been so much to explore within my own backyard, and for now that is bringing me the peace and relaxation I need to wind down from 2023.

Surprise Visitor

Surprise Visitor

Anna's Hummingbird

Anna’s Hummingbird, 2023

Our backyard has seen a lot of bird action since we moved to San Joaquin Valley. California Scrub-Jays love to hop around and cache food in various places, including the lawn and (rather annoyingly) my garden pots. Black Phoebes like to snatch insects from the air in the evenings. White-crowned Sparrows, Northern Mockingbirds, and Eurasian Collared-Doves will poke around the lawn edges for scrumptious bits of food. Occasionally a hummingbird will hover around the Crepe Myrtle trees looking for bugs.

More recently, Anna’s and Black-chinned Hummingbirds have enjoyed my new mason jar feeder. I even had a magical experience with one impatiently sipping from the feeder while I was still holding it. I spent many warm evenings over the summer watching the two hummingbird species go to battle over this food source, giving me a great opportunity to soak up their personalities.

Anna's Hummingbird

Anna’s Hummingbird, 2023

One evening, I stepped out into the backyard to look at my container garden and to see who might be at the feeder. As I bent down to look at the tender seedlings poking through the soil, an unfamiliar sound caught my attention. I glanced at the feeder and noticed that the call was coming from a little hummer perched on a branch not commonly favored by my usual visitors. I cautiously crept indoors fearing I would scare the hummingbird, and grabbed my husband and our cameras.

Costa's Hummingbird

Mystery Hummingbird (Read On To Find Out The ID!), 2023

After a brief photoshoot, I had convinced myself that this was a young Black-chinned Hummingbird and went back indoors to eat dinner. I was content to carry on with the evening, but my husband rushed through dinner and went straight to his computer to review the photos. Annoyed that he left me to finish my meal alone, I slurped up the last bit of my soup and then casually joined him to look over the images.

This hummer was so cute! Its few gorget (neck) feathers were a vibrant purple, and it sat like a little puff ball patiently observing its surroundings. I started to wonder – is this actually a young Black-chinned Hummingbird or something else?

Grabbing chairs, cameras, monocular, and a phone to record audio, we quietly set up to watch the hummer – who was thankfully still there – as dusk started to arrive.

There was indeed something different about this one. The few gorget feathers were too purple. It didn’t seem as “necky” or as stretched out like the Black-chinned Hummingbird. And its mannerisms felt different to me, giving off a sense of peace and calm while he watched for nearby food competitors.

A Black-chinned Hummingbird arrived, evoking a series of TINKS from the new hummer. I managed to nab a recording of it. We continued to watch it for a half hour until it flew away for the night.

How lucky I was to capture the TINK audio! My heart started to race as I reviewed all the Anna’s and Black-chinned Hummingbird calls, wondering if we had simply heard an unusual vocalization from our familiar friends. However, none of the recordings lined up with ours. On a hunch, I called up a Costa’s Hummingbird and clicked on the first call. Excitement flooded my system as I heard an exact match. Could it be that we just saw a rare bird, and from our own backyard to boot? A quick post to our local birding group confirmed the ID. What a thrilling moment! 

Costa's Hummingbird

Costa’s Hummingbird; Photo by Gabriel Olin, 2023

It was only because I happened to step outside for a moment and observe an unusual call that we ended up spending time with this beauty. It goes to show that it’s not required that we memorize all the birds in a field guide. Instead, get to know your local birds well enough so that when something unique comes through, you’ll notice and pay attention to it.

Costa's Hummingbird

Costa’s Hummingbird; Photo by Gabriel Olin, 2023

Disney Princess

Disney Princess

At my old place, I tried out several bird feeders over the span of a few years. The first was a finch sock that attracted Lesser Goldfinches and House Finches, and it was a joy to watch. However, it got really messy with seeds strewn all over the place, and I feared attracting vermin. So I took it down. Then I tried a traditional hummingbird feeder with homemade sugar water. After a particularly hot week and forgetting to clean it, the feeder molded so badly that I had to throw it out, not confident that I could clean it well-enough to be safe for the birds. I tried another feeder to attract finches, and while it wasn’t as messy, a disease broke out amongst the birds and Audubon advised taking in all feeders in the area to stop its spread. 

It’s a lot of work maintaining feeders. You have to make sure they are kept clean for the birds’ safety. Seed can get expensive and make a mess, causing other issues. Sugar water can attract ants and molds quickly in the summer heat. Although feeders bring joy, I didn’t have the energy to keep up with the required maintenance. 

Fast forward to now, I impulsively bought a tiny Mason Jar with four silicone red flower portals for the hummers. I figured that it was such a small thing that I could maintain it better. Plus, the wide mouth would allow for easier cleaning. So far it’s been a hit with the Black-chinned Hummingbirds, and now Anna’s Hummingbirds are taking over.

A few days ago, I cleaned the feeder in the early evening just before the hummers tend to arrive. There was a female Anna’s dancing around the dead apricot tree where I usually hang the feeder (we kept the dead tree because the birds love to perch on it). The Anna’s was working its way along various skinny branches, picking at bugs caught in spiderwebs. A sudden inspiration hit me – would the hummer be bold enough to drink from the feeder while I hold it?

I approached with a painfully slow scoot so as not to scare it, holding the feeder chest-high and carefully positioning my fingers so that I could grip it with minimal movement. The Anna’s kept an eye on me as I inched closer and closer, my breath quickening with anticipation.

I got just close enough and the Anna’s flew over to me, dipping into the rubbery red flower and gulping up the new batch of cooled sugar water. I was so stunned that I couldn’t even look at it for fear of moving the feeder and spooking it. But, for what seemed like eternity, I finally moved my eyes down and watched this precious little bird downing the homemade nectar. I could hear its buzzing wings keeping it afloat and could sense how light this teeny little thing was. 

I accidentally adjusted my finger which moved the feeder, and the Anna’s instinctively pulled away. I watched it shift over to take a hard look at my ring, as if wondering whether it was a silvery flower worthy of further investigation. Its observation complete, it flew in front of my face and hovered, forcing us to literally see eye to eye. It was so close I could see the bits of web still clinging to the tip of the bill. Time slowed down as I was caught up in its gaze.

Was it telling me to scram? Was it showing a display of courage against this huge giant holding a previous food source? Or perhaps it was giving me thanks or curiously staring deep into my soul.

Admittedly, I was feeling terrified at having this needle-bill mere inches away from my eye. The Anna’s that have hung around lately have been particularly aggressive towards the Black-chinned Hummingbirds, fiercely chasing them away at every opportunity. I wasn’t going to take any chances and I quickly spun around. The hummer flew off a short distance, waited for me to return the feeder to its normal spot, drank some more, and moved on, leaving me with a pounding heart and a huge smile across my face.